61. Rae
RAE
Kian’s fingers dug into my hips as he arced into me. The balance between pleasure and pain flickered. I couldn’t hold Rhys’s eyes. It was all too much.
My inner walls fluttered as Kian let out a growl and moved fast, his teeth clamping down on the juncture of my neck and shoulder, his fangs piercing the delicate flesh. A wave of pleasure hit me harder than it ever had in my life.
The sensations weren’t just where the nerves were bundled but everywhere. As if Kian had lit my blood on fire in the best way possible.
I writhed against him as he drank greedily from my neck. I couldn’t hold back any longer; I shattered with a force I’d never experienced before. It bordered on painful, but that only heightened the orgasm as it ripped through me.
I clamped down on Kian as a snarl tore from his throat, sending a whole new vibration through me. His teeth were gone from my neck, and he thrust impossibly deeper, hitting that spot inside me that had sparks dancing across my vision.
His fangs might’ve been gone, but the chain reaction he’d detonated still flowed through me.
I could feel it fully then, the light that existed within me.
It was a living, breathing thing. It twisted and arced as Kian thrust into me.
My body trembled as a fresh wave of sensation cascaded over me. It was like it was never-ending.
Kian’s hips tilted, and he hit an entirely new angle that had me crying out. “My Butterfly,” he growled as he slammed home, emptying himself into me. I took it all. Everything he had to give. Because it was exactly what I needed, too.
Wave after wave of aftershocks cascaded through me as I slowly came back to myself. I reached up and swiped a drop of blood from Kian’s lip. His tongue lashed out, lapping it up greedily. “That was…”
“Amazing?” I suggested.
“So much more than. Never felt anything like it.”
“Me neither,” I whispered.
Awareness rocketed through me, reminding me that we hadn’t been alone. But when my gaze reached the doorway, I found Rhys gone.
I woke, drowning in juniper and mountain air as Kian traced a design on my back.
“That feels good,” I mumbled.
A low, husky chuckle left his lips. “You sound a little drunk, Butterfly.”
“I feel it.” I rolled to my back, looking up at him.
Kian’s hand dropped to the spot right between my neck and shoulder, tracing his bite mark. I shivered slightly. He frowned. “Painful?”
I shook my head. “Just sensitive.”
“How do you feel overall?”
“Good,” I admitted. “I slept better than I have in weeks. No nightmares.”
Kian’s frown deepened. “You’ve been having nightmares?”
Hesitation grabbed hold, but as I stared into those violet eyes, it ebbed again. “Usually about my parents.” I swallowed hard. “I was the one who found them.”
“I’m so sorry. I hate that you went through that alone. Hate that it happened at all.”
“It’s life. Hard things happen. I made it through.” That fact was something I leaned on now: the knowledge that I could endure.
“You still should’ve told me,” he grumbled, as if he could fix anything in the world that might cause me discomfort.
I reached up and massaged the furrowed spot between his brows. “No need to be grumpy. I think I can only take one fated who’s a total and complete grouch.”
Kian’s lips twitched, and he bent his head to brush his lips across mine. “Thank you for last night. It was a gift.”
“It was for me, too.” I tugged my lip between my teeth, worrying the corner of it.
“What is it?” he pressed, keeping his voice gentle.
“We didn’t, um, use protection.”
Confusion swept over Kian’s features.
“Like a condom,” I explained. “I’m not on the pill.”
Realization dawned. “We don’t need to. We don’t have the same illnesses and diseases as humans do. And you can’t get pregnant unless you’re mate-bound.”
“Mate-bound?”
“It’s the ceremony we go through to bind our lives to another’s. All beings in Lumaria partake to see if they have a fated mate. It’s considered sacred.”
A chill skated over my skin, as if I could feel the depth of just how special it was. “But most people choose who they’re mate-bound to, right?”
Kian traced my lower lip. “They do. But the gods make no mistakes, Rae. We are all your perfect match. Even the assholes in our bunch. Even the Feral King, if he is our last.”
Another chill racked me at the mention of him. Just one more thing to add to the overwhelm. “I hope you’re right.” I took a deep breath, summoning bravery. “I see it with you. I feel it, what’s building between us. But the others? I just… More than anything, I feel like I was forced on them.”
“Butterfly,” Kian whispered. “It’s not about you. They have their demons. As much as I despise Rhys and think Nyx is a prick of the highest order, we have to give them time to work through whatever it is they need to.”
He had a point. But all I could think about was how on the fritz or absent my magic had been. What Olympia had said. “Your fated are meant to balance you and your magic. When your bonds are out of sync, so will your magic be.”
There was just one problem. I didn’t see how we would ever be balanced.
“Again,” Nyx commanded.
I couldn’t help the growl that left my throat, even if it was pathetically quiet compared to my fated’s. I dropped the bo staff and tugged off my fleece. The weapons training had me sweating like a pig.
The moment I straightened with the staff, I realized my mistake. Every eye in the training gym was boring holes in my neck. Except for Kian’s. And, unfortunately, it was the full audience today. Calloway, Izzy, Olympia, and Kyrie. Pax and Rhys. Nyx and Rayne. Kian.
“You didn’t,” Calloway snarled.
“Careful,” Kian warned, shoving off the gym wall.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Cal’s nostrils flared. “You did this? You sullied her body with your monstrous ways.”
“Watch your mouth,” Kian ground out.
Calloway stalked forward. “You don’t get to control my tongue, bloodsucker.”
One second, he was steps away from me. The next, he was pinned to the top of the wall, barely breathing.
Izzy screamed. “Let him down! What are you doing?”
I turned to Kian, knowing instantly it was him. “Ki,” I said softly. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt me. And he doesn’t know you. Not at all.”
Kian’s focus dipped to me, his magical hold on Calloway lessening slightly. “Don’t want him near you.”
I moved in closer, patting his chest. “I get it. But we’re okay. You can let him down.”
A moment later, Calloway slid to the floor, coughing and sputtering.
Kian’s arms wrapped around me, and he rested his chin on my head. “I think my gifts and protectiveness are a little more intense after last night.”
Nyx let out a cough.
Olympia just grinned. “Understandable. It’s the fated bond growing.” Her gaze dipped to me. “I think we should try some magic. Your connection might be stronger today.”
I looked at a still-recovering Cal on the floor. “I don’t know…”
“Do it.” The voice came from the most surprising place. Rhys. He stood in the corner, arms crossed over his chest, watching. “It may have helped.”
The words weren’t gentle, but they weren’t cruel either. I didn’t know quite what to make of it. Rhys’s gaze fixed on my neck—the mark from Kian. But he didn’t glare or look any more pissed off than his usual resting bitch face. Instead, he looked…sad?
I tried to shake that off. “Okay. Let’s try.”